Outside of the normal downturns that are typical when we experience a potential pandemic such as the coronavirus or ebola, or other diseases that have spread in the past decades – we are seeing a severe downturn in the technological world that will have an impact over the coming years.
As you are reading this, factories are closing their doors. Workers are being quanratined. Supply chains are being disrupted. Products are left sitting in mass numbers in warehouses, unable to be transported for sale. Even our very own printing business is being affected. We expect this impact to see a downturn in the market, and rising prices over the next quarter (or more).
Countless trade shows, industry gatherings, and even entertainment like the GDC conference aimed at gamers, has been canceled amid the fears of furthering the pandemic.
So it is no suprise that it is now making national news.
The biggest story of the moment is the rapid spread of the coronavirus, which can cause a potentially fatal flulike illness and originated in China. The virus — and the global attempts to contain it — has rocked the business world, sending financial markets into correction territory, down more than 10 percent.
In the tech industry, companies with direct exposure to China were the earliest to feel the effects. Apple, for instance, warned investors that the supply of iPhones — the company’s marquee product, which accounts for the bulk of its revenue every quarter — would be hampered by the spread of the coronavirus. Apple relies heavily on factories in Shenzhen, China, and Chinese consumers are an enormous segment of the company’s customer base.